Bail fob stbeet-bailboads



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM REESE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL FOR STREET-RAILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,523, dated December 20, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM REESE, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Rails for Street- Railroads; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the annexed drawing, forming part of the specifi cation, inwhich- Figure 1, is a perspective representation of ashort section of araildetached from the sill and with a spike inserted in its spike hole.Fig. 2, is a representation of a similar section of a rail turned overso as to show the face or side which is turned down in Fig. 1.

In both figures like letters of reference denote similar parts of therails, &c.

My invention consists in so constructing rails for street railroads ashereinafter clescribed, both sides or faces being finished alike, sothat either side may be turned uppermost, and that when one side of therail is worn, it may be turned over and used on the other side equallyas well as a new rail.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvement, Iwill proceed to describe more particularly its construction andadvantages.

My rail is designed to be made as is usual, of wrought or rolled iron;it consists of a flat bar of iron (1, with an elevation b or projectionof uniform height and width at one edge extending the whole length ofthe rail on one side, and a similar projection 0 of uniform height andwidth extending downward at the opposite edge, extending also the wholelength" of the rail. This makes the plate or bar which composes therail, thicker at either edge than in the middle, while on either face ofthe rail, it is a plane surface, either level or slightly inclined fromone edge to the projection or head of the rail, at the other edge onwhich head or projection, the tread of the car wheel travels. Thus bothfaces of the rail are exactly similar, and present a flat rail with asingle projection, and that at one side of the rail. The flat portion ofthe rail,

from the inner edge to the commencement of the head or projection, hadbetter be a plane surface, because that portion on one face of the rail,lies on top of the longitudinal sill of the road, and has a betterbearing if it be flat. The head of the rail on either side (6 or 0) isbut slightly elevated above the flat part or base of the rail, as theflange of the car wheels used on passenger or street railways, projectsmuch less beyond the tread of the rail, than in wheels used on ordinaryrail roads.

My improved rails are designed to be laid with the base or flat portionof the underside or face of the rail on the longitudinal wooden sill ofthe road, with the shoulder formed by the projection or head 0 on theunder side of the rail pressing against the side of the wooden sill; orif it be preferred that the longitudinal sill should extend under thewhole width of the rail a rabbet or depression is cut on the inner edgeof the sill to receive the lower projection or head 0, all on the baseof the rail to rest on the sill, which answers the same purpose ofgiving the rail a lateral bearing against the inner side of thelongitudinal sill, caused by the well known inclination of the carwheels to press outward against the side of the rails. This bearing ofthe under projection or head 0 of the rail against the inner edge of thelongitudinal sill, enables the rail to resist the outward pressure ofthe car-wheels, and prevents the spreading of the rails. This is equallythe case Whichever face of the rail is turned upward.

The holes in the rails for driving the spikes to fasten the rails to thesills, are placed to one side of the central line of the rail. There aretwo sets of spike holes in each rail, one set designed to be used whenthe rail is used one side up, and the other set when the rail isreversed. These holes are countersunk, to receive the head of the spike,one set of holes marked (Z Fig. 2, being countersunk on the side of therail which will be uppermost when those holes are to be used, and theseholes are situate nearer the inner than the outer edge of the rail, asseen in Fig. l, and so that when the wheel of the car passes over therail, it does not pass over the heads of the spikes by which the rail issecured. These holes (Z are not countersunk on the under face of therail, which is turned up in Fig l. The other set of spike holes marked 6are situate nearer to the other edge of the rail than the central line,and are countersunk on the opposite face of the rail to that on whichthe holes (1 are countersunk, as will be seen by comparing Figs. 1 and2.

Rails thus constructed possess very great advantages for street railwaysover any other rails with which I am acquainted, and I will brieflyenumerate a few of these advantages. They are more easily rolled thanrails of ordinary construction, as both edges are of the same thickness,for when one edge of the rail is thick and the other thin, the thin edgeis apt to crack in rolling. But the chief advantage of the mode ofconstructing rails hereinbefore described, is their practical utilityfor street railways in the following particulars: They present less thanordinary obstruction to the wheels of carriages, carts and other wheeledvehicles used in the streets of cities. That the head or projection ofthe rail which is turned down, pressing against the side of the sill,prevents the spreading of the track, and greatly relieves the lateralstrain on the spikes, and that when the head of the rail is worn out onone side by the tread of the car wheels and by the transverse passage ofother wheeled vehicles in crossing the track, the rail may be reversed,and used the other side up for as long or nearly as long as it was usedbefore one side was worn out; thus making the rails wear almost, if notquite twice as long as rails of ordinary construction; the reversed railbeing as good as new, because the head of the rail which is turned up onthe reversal of the rail, was previously turned down, and at the inneredge of the track, and not liable to injury.

Having thus described my improved rail for street or passenger railways,what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Making iron rails for street railways, of the shape substantially ashereinbefore described, having on each side a head or projection at oneedge of the rail, with a flat base extending from the projection or headto the other side, both sides or faces being finished alike, so that therail may beused either side up, and reversed when one side is worn out.

In testimony whereof, the said ABRAHAM Rnnsn hath hereunto set his handin presence of us.

ABRM. REESE.

lVitnesses MARTIN Gr. CUSHING,

C. l/V. LEWIS.

